Phoenix Woman Receives Prison Term for Money Laundering

(Phoenix, Ariz. – Feb. 13, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that Blanca Coronado, 49, of Phoenix, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to three felony counts of money laundering. Coronado was the manager of Mota’s Shuttle, a low-cost shuttle service between Phoenix and Sonoyta, Caborca and Rocky Point.

In Aug. 2007, Coronado was one of 47 defendants indicted following a six-month investigation conducted by the Phoenix Police Department that found evidence of money laundering through the shuttle van service from Phoenix to Mexico, for various drug organizations.

According to investigators, drug dealers would drop off cash to the shuttle van service, and drivers would strap the money to their bodies and take the money across the border. Coronado managed and ran the business responsible for transporting approximately $2 million dollars per month in drug proceeds to Mexico.